Crown Archive Collection · Biltmore
- Eye size
- 55 mm
Australian black bean · Fumed oak · North American walnut burl
Australian black bean (Castanospermum australe), also called Moreton Bay chestnut, is native to the rainforests of eastern Australia and Vanuatu. Its timber naturally contrasts pale yellow sapwood with chocolate-dark heartwood and was historically used for furniture, carving and even walking sticks. Fumed oak recalls the Arts and Crafts tradition, in which ammonia reacts with the oak’s natural tannins to develop a rich dark tone. North American walnut burl adds the irregular, swirling figure prized in decorative cabinetmaking. Across the Biltmore, asymmetric, diagonal wood splices turn these contrasting materials into a quietly architectural composition.
Exterior woods over a CNC-milled plum-brown cotton fiber and wood pulp composite substrate.